For everything there is a season, and now that we have passed the Autumnal Equinox, when the sun is directly over the Equator and days and nights are nearly equal length, we have officially transitioned from summer to autumn in the northern hemisphere. For many people, Fall means it’s time to get out sweaters, decorate with gourds, and partake of traditional autumnal foods and beverages (pumpkin spice latte, anyone?). For some people, autumn means it’s time to bring in the rest of the crops and garden vegetables. Others start getting ready for hunting season. For some folks near the Great Salt Lake in Utah it is time to get ready for Brine Shrimp Season!
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Care of Creation
Science Corner: Science, Ho!
The Fourth of July in Pittsburgh is a big time for boating, what with the three rivers and all that. So this story about citizen scientists contributing their time at sea to science caught my eye. As Aquaman loves to remind us, the surface of the Earth is over 70% water. Yet nearly all of science is conducted on land, making it challenging to know even basic facts of what is happening out in the ocean. The solution here is to recruit volunteers (no press-ganging for this navy) who already spend significant time on the waves and have them collect samples, take measurements, and test equipment. It’s not a perfect solution; folks probably don’t choose their routes randomly, for example, which may introduce biases to the sampling. Still, it’s much better than the alternative of not having any of that data.
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Call for Presenters: Creation Care @ the Frontiers of Mission (April 6-7)
A message from our friends in the Lausanne Movement / World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network. ESN shares conference announcements and calls for papers from time to time as a way for folks in our network to learn about gatherings they may appreciate and opportunities to share their work.  [Read more…] about Call for Presenters: Creation Care @ the Frontiers of Mission (April 6-7)
Missionaries Changed the World Once – Can they do it again?
The topic of a recent cover story in Christianity Today is shaking up not only the world of missions, but also academia. The World the Missionaries Made is a report on the work of Robert Woodberry, a sociologist currently researching at the Political Science Department of the National University of Singapore. CT’s Executive Editor Andy Crouch calls it the CT cover story of which he is most proud. Its thesis and Woodberry’s work support a remarkable conclusion – that a generation of “conversionary protestant missionariesâ€[1] laid a foundation for democracy around the world. In effect, missions in the 19th and 20th centuries may be one of the most significant factors, and certainly one of the most overlooked, in what CT calls “the health of nations†today: [Read more…] about Missionaries Changed the World Once – Can they do it again?
The Jamaica Call to Action (Part 3): A Plea for Prayer
The Jamaica Call to Action, based on two convictions and presenting 10 clear and actionable things that the church can do, nonetheless recognizes that even though we know what needs to be done, and we know how to do most of it, this is not enough. A problem that has eluded the best brains and that all of the powers of all of the governments on earth are unable to solve will not be solved with a to-do list, no matter how well thought out.
So the call to action ends with an urgent call to prayer:
Our call to prayer
Each of our calls to action rest on an even more urgent call to prayer, intentional and fervent, soberly aware that this is a spiritual struggle. Many of us must begin our praying with lamentation and repentance for our failure to care for creation, and for our failure to lead in transformation at a personal and corporate level. And then, having tasted of the grace and mercies of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit, and with hope in the fullness of our redemption, we pray with confidence that the Triune God can and will heal our land and all who dwell in it, for the glory of his matchless name.
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